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Rancher CLI SAML authentication is vulnerable to phishing attacks

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Sep 25, 2025 in rancher/rancher • Updated Sep 26, 2025

Package

gomod github.com/rancher/rancher (Go)

Affected versions

>= 2.12.0, < 2.12.2
>= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6
>= 2.10.0, < 2.10.10
>= 2.9.0, < 2.9.12

Patched versions

2.12.2
2.11.6
2.10.10
2.9.12

Description

Impact

A vulnerability has been identified within Rancher Manager whereby the SAML authentication from the Rancher CLI tool is vulnerable to phishing attacks. The custom authentication protocol for SAML-based providers can be abused to steal Rancher’s authentication tokens.

Rancher Manager deployments without SAML authentication enabled are not affected by this vulnerability.

An attacker can generate a phishing SAML login URL which contains a publicKey and requestId controlled by the attacker. The attacker can then give the link to another user (eg: admin) and if the victim goes to the link unsuspectingly, they might not notice the bad parameters in the URL. The user will be prompted to login and might believe that its session has ended so they need to re-login. By clicking on the link, they will be logged in and an encrypted token will be created with the attacker's public key. The attacker can then decrypt the victim’s Rancher token, enabling the attack

Please consult the associated MITRE ATTACK Techniques - Privilege Escalation for further information about this category of attack.

Patches

This vulnerability is addressed by changes in both Rancher Manager and the CLI. The fixed versions:

  1. The Rancher CLI now reports the requestId that is relevant to the authentication session in process as a separate message to the terminal, making it easier for the user to identify and compare.
  2. The Rancher login page for SAML authentication will display a suitable warning to ensure that the user seeing the login page is aware of the login process with the related requestId, enabling users to verify whether the request was intended or not.

Patched versions of Rancher include releases v2.12.2, v2.11.6, v2.10.10, and v2.9.12.

Workarounds

If you cannot update to one of the fixed versions, make sure to check the URL printed by the Rancher CLI when performing a SAML authentication flow, especially the requestId parameter. The URL and the requestId printed by the CLI must be the same URL that you access and see when finalizing the SAML authentication flow in your browser for the Rancher UI. The URL has the format:

  • <rancher_ui_address>/dashboard/auth/login?requestId=<requestid>&publicKey=<pubkey>&responseType=<responsetype>

If the URL presented in the browser is different from the one logged by the CLI, the user must not proceed with the login, as they might be under a phishing attack.

References

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

References

@samjustus samjustus published to rancher/rancher Sep 25, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Sep 26, 2025
Reviewed Sep 26, 2025
Last updated Sep 26, 2025

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity

The product does not sufficiently verify the origin or authenticity of data, in a way that causes it to accept invalid data. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2024-58267

GHSA ID

GHSA-v3vj-5868-2ch2

Source code

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